Well, after night 1 of attempting to recall my dreams upon awakening the result was nothing at all. However, I do remember waking up in the middle of the night, but I was still asleep. I know my eyes were closed, and I knew I was in the bed. But I wasn't dreaming of anything. It was just black. I became aware that I should try and achieve lucidity, so I tried to remember what I had just been dreaming about and a dark image of my girlfriend started to appear. It was like seeing her in a pitch black room as my eyes are starting to adjust to the darkness. I was sooo tired, and just wanted to stop thinking, so my mind faded into itself, and nothingness consumed me. Looking back, I can't tell whether the blackness was my mind, or the back of my eyes. I can't tell whether I was conscious or not. I woke up not remembering anything but that. I wish I could explain better, but hopefully you'll understand.

So basically, I don't really know if I was asleep or not, or half asleep. Perhaps It was between two periods of REM. Who knows.

My question is, if I was asleep, how do I become aware that I'm sleeping rather than just sitting in my bed with my eyes closed as I knew I was? I know reality checks are a necessity, but I don't really know what to think when I'm doing a reality check, especially in that state of mind. Perhaps I was dreaming, but knew where I was outside of it (in my bed), so nothing was projected. So, how do I make that impenetrable darkness become colorful lucidity?